Method of detecting bifidobacterium infantis

ABSTRACT

PCR primers for detecting  Bifidobacterium infantis  comprising: a pair of a first oligonucleotide having a sequence of 20 or more continuous nucleotides selected from a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and a second oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in which 0 to 7 nucleotides has been deleted from its 5′-terminal side is used to perform PCR using a chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA of test bacteria as a template, and whether an amplicon of  Bifidobacterium infantis  is present or not is determined.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a technique for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis. In particular, the present invention relates to primers for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis by PCR, and to a method and kit for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis using the primers. The present invention is useful in the field of microbial industry or the like.

BACKGROUND ART

In a breast-fed infant, bifidobacteria (bacteria of genus Bifidobacterium) accounts for 80 to 90% of intestinal bacterial flora, and is most predominant. Bifidobacteria is known to maintain the intestinal tract function of an infant and in the intestinal tract to prevent infections of putrefactive bacteria invading from the outside and opportunistic infection due to amplification of indigenous bacteria which usually exist in the intestinal tract and are harmless but become putrefactive when the infant is in a poor physical condition. In the field of the infant nutrition, it has been designed to prevent an infective disease or to promote treatment of an allergic disease by adding infant-type bifidobacteria to an infant formula or administering formulated bifidobacteria. For such use, from a physiological viewpoint, bifidobacteria existing in a human body is preferably administered to a human being, and human-type bifidobacteria is desirably used. Examples of known bifidobacteria existing in infant feces include Bifidobacterium infantis and Bifidobacterium breve. Of those, Bifidobacterium infantis is bifidobacteria detected only in an infant.

In order to evaluate the efficiency of such bifidobacteria application, for example, it is necessary to calculate the existing population of bifidobacteria in feces, and moreover, to judge a clinical effect by determining the individual species of Bifidobacterium. Accordingly, a technique for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis with reliability has been required.

Conventionally, bifidobacteria in feces or environmental substances has been identified by culturing a specimen under an aerobic condition, isolating colonies and performing a morphological test such as gram staining, observation of the shape of bacteria by microscopic examination or a biochemical test such as the determination of fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase activity, oxygen tolerance, or fermentation pattern of carbohydrate. The aforementioned specimen is cultured according to a standard method that is generally used for measurement of viable count or identification of bacterial species, but this approach has many problems. For example, not all bifidobacteria in feces can always be cultured. Moreover, the culture is time-consuming and troublesome because bifidobacteria must be cultured by using an anaerobic apparatus, and the culture requires about a few days to a week. Furthermore, bifidobacteria in a specimen must be stored anaerobically and at a low temperature and be subjected to analysis in the condition of viable cells, and much skill was required for the analysis.

On the other hand, recently, for identifying bifidobacteria, the similarity with a reference strain has been determined by the DNA-DNA homology test or by analysis of a nucleotide sequence of 16S rRNA gene. The DNA-DNA homology test is a method including culturing isolated bacteria to be tested, preparing the chromosomal DNA of the bacteria, and comparing it with that of a reference strain for homology by hybridization (Non-Patent Document 1). In order to prepare chromosomal DNA necessary for the test, the absolute requirement for the method is that the bacteria should be culturable. In addition, even if the bacteria are culturable, the method is troublesome because the chromosomal DNA must be prepared in large quantities. Furthermore, the method has, for example, an essential problem in that the method is suitable for examination of bacteria that have a far genetic distance from each other, but it is not sensitive for determining that of related species.

16S rRNA gene generally exists in prokaryotes, and there are nucleotide sequences conserved in different genus of bacteria and sequences conserved in different species of bacteria, so that it can be used for identification of bacterial species. The method can be performed by determining the nucleotide sequence of 16S rRNA gene of test bacteria, aligning the nucleotide sequence with a sequence of 16S rRNA gene of related species of bacteria (alignment), and analyzing the difference of the nucleotide sequences. However, the method needs to determine, as a reference, the sequence of 16S rRNA gene of bacteria existing in soil, sludge, feces, foods, or the like, and to analyze many sequences systematically, so that the method is time-consuming and troublesome (Non-Patent Document 2).

Moreover, use of a probe for detecting a specific sequence of 16S rRNA gene allows one to determine whether or not the test bacteria are the same bacteria as reference bacteria of which 16S rRNA gene has a known specific sequence. As an example of applying such a technique, a detection method using an oligonucleotide and derivatives thereof as probes for detecting 16S rRNA gene of Bifidobacterium infantis as a target is disclosed (Patent Document 1). However, it is a problem that the method is time-consuming. On the other hand, a technique in which bifidobacteria is analyzed using PCR primers capable of detecting 16S rRNA gene is known (Patent Document 2 and Non-Patent Document 3). However, the primers that are disclosed in those documents as specific primers for Bifidobacterium infantis have a problem of detecting Bifidobacterium breve in error.

Patent Document 1: JP 06-197763 A

Patent Document 2: JP 11-123093 A

Non-Patent Document 1: Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Vol. 2 p1418-1434 (1986)

Non-Patent Document 2: Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and

Molecular Biology Vol. 32 p155-216 (1985)

Non-Patent Document 3: Systematic and Applied Microbiology Vol. 25 p. 536 (2002)

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide: a PCR primer for amplifying 16S rRNA gene, which is specific for Bifidobacterium infantis without cross-reacting with other species of Bifidobacterium, and can detect Bifidobacterium infantis rapidly and simply; and a detection method using the primer.

To attain the aforementioned object, the inventors of the present invention have made extensive studies. As a result, they have found a PCR primer that can specifically detect Bifidobacterium infantis, and thereby, have accomplished the present invention.

That is, the present invention is as follows.

(1) PCR primers for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis consisting of a pair of: a first oligonucleotide having a sequence of 20 or more continuous nucleotides selected from a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1; and a second oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in which 0 to 7 nucleotides have been deleted from its 5′-terminal side.

(2) The aforementioned PCR primer, wherein the first oligonucleotide has a nucleotide sequence selected from SEQ ID NOS: 5 to 28, and the second oligonucleotide has a nucleotide sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 2, 32, or 33.

(3) A kit for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis including the aforementioned PCR primer.

(4) A method of detecting Bifidobacterium infantis, comprising: performing PCR using the aforementioned PCR primer and chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA of test bacteria as a template; and determining whether an amplicon is present or not.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[FIG. 1] This drawing shows a relationship of the PCR primers of the present invention. A and B represent a forward primer and a reverse primer, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

The PCR primer of the present invention includes a pair of two kinds of oligonucleotides capable of amplifying 16S rRNA or 16S rRNA gene of Bifidobacterium infantis by PCR (polymerase chain reaction, White, T. J. et al., Trends Genet., 5, 185 (1989)). Of the aforementioned oligonucleotides, one is a first oligonucleotide having a sequence of 20 to 25 continuous nucleotides, preferably 20 continuous nucleotides selected from the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, and the other is a second oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in which 0 to 7 nucleotides, preferably 5 nucleotides have been deleted from 5′-terminal side.

Examples of the aforementioned first oligonucleotide include an oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence selected from SEQ ID NOS: 5 to 28. On the other hand, examples of the aforementioned second oligonucleotide include an oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, 32, or 33.

The primer of the present invention can be synthesized according to a general DNA synthesis method that is well known to a person skilled in the art, for example, by using a DNA synthesizer. The primer of the present invention can also be obtained by ordering a DNA synthesis service.

Bifidobacterium infantis can be detected by performing PCR using the PCR primer of the present invention and a chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA of test bacteria as a template, and determining whether an amplicon is present or not. That is, when a PCR amplification occurs specifically to the sequence of the primer, the region (targeted region) sandwiched between the sequences corresponding to the sequences of respective primers in the 16S rRNA gene of Bifidobacterium infantis is amplified. Accordingly, if the amplicons are obtained by using the PCR primer of the present invention, the test bacteria are identified to be Bifidobacterium infantis, or the test bacteria are considered to contain Bifidobacterium infantis. Moreover, the existing population of Bifidobacterium infantis can also be determined by performing PCR quantitatively. In the present invention, the detection of Bifidobacterium infantis includes: detecting whether Bifidobacterium infantis is present in a sample or not; in the case where test bacterium is a single species, identifying whether the test bacterium is Bifidobacterium infantis or not; and moreover, determining the existing population of Bifidobacterium infantis in the sample.

Test bacteria are not particularly limited as long as the bacteria are contained in a sample in which Bifidobacterium infantis may be present. Examples thereof include bacteria that are in feces, foods, or environmental substances such as soil. Preferably, the bacteria are Bifidobacterium infantis or bifidobacteria other than Bifidobacterium infantis. The test bacteria may be isolated single species of bacteria, or a mixture containing a plurality of species of bacteria.

The chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA of the test bacteria is used as the aforementioned template. The preparation method of the chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA is not particularly limited as long as those nucleic acids that may be used as PCR templates can be obtained. Generally, a method used in extraction or isolation of chromosomal DNA or RNA of bacteria can be adopted.

The bacterial cells used in extraction of the aforementioned nucleic acids can be obtained, for example, by culturing the aforementioned test bacteria obtained from feces, foods, soil, or the like anaerobically in the presence of carbon dioxide on a suitable medium such as a GAM medium to which 3% glucose is added. If necessary, the bacterial cells may be extracted from a medium by using water, a buffer, an organic solvent, or the like.

For extracting the target nucleic acid from the obtained bacterial cells, for example, commercial DNA extraction kits such as InstaGene Matrix (Japan Bio-Rad) and QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen) may be used. DNA may also be extracted by extracting DNA from cells according to a method described by Murmur (Journal of Molecular Biology Vol. 3 p208-218 (1961)), a benzyl chloride method (Nucleic Acid Research Vol. 21 p5279-5280 (1993)), or the like, and then removing RNA with ribonuclease. Before the extraction of nucleic acid, a substance for removing a PCR inhibitor such as bovine serum albumin is preferably added. On the other hand, RNA may be extracted according to a phenol method, a guanidine thiocyanate method, or the like. The DNA and RNA extraction methods are also described in Sambrook et al., “Molecular Cloning a Laboratory Manual, Second Edition”, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989) and the like.

In the present invention, a PCR may be performed in a manner similar to general PCR using two kinds of oligonucleotide primers. Typically, denaturation, annealing, and an extension reaction are repeated for 20 to 35 cycles with incubating a reaction mixture containing template DNA, primers, and DNA polymerase at a temperature suitable for each reaction. In the case of using 16S rRNA as a template, a targeted region can be amplified by RT-PCR performed in combination with a reverse transcription reaction.

DNA polymerase used for PCR is not particularly limited as long as it can be used for the PCR. Examples thereof include: Taq DNA polymerase such as AmpliTaq Gold (Applied Biosystems), Takara Taq (TAKARA BIO INC.), and Platinum Taq DNA polymerase (Invitrogen); DNA polymerase such as Platinum Pfx DNA polymerase (Invitrogen) and Pyrobest DNA polymerase (TAKARA BIO INC.); and kits containing these enzymes and buffers.

The conditions of a PCR may be set appropriately in accordance with an enzyme to be used. Specific examples thereof include a condition of: incubating a reaction mixture at 94° C. for 10 minutes; repeating a reaction cycle consisting of denaturation (94° C., 30 seconds), annealing (55 to 65° C., 30 seconds), and extension (72° C., 30 seconds) for 30 cycles; and lastly, incubating the mixture at 72° C. for 10 minutes. The annealing temperature is preferably set to a Tm value of one primer having a Tm value lower than that of the other primer in a pair of primers. According to a nearest-neighbor method, when the Tm value is about 60° C., a preferable temperature is about 55° C., when the Tm value is about 65° C., a preferable temperature is about 60° C., and when the Tm value is about 70 to 75° C., a preferable temperature is about 65° C. As an amount ratio of template DNA and primers, the amount of the primers is preferably about 0.2 to 2 mmol per 10² to 10⁸ copies of chromosomal DNA.

The presence or absence of the amplicon, or the amount of the amplicon obtained by a PCR can be determined according to a general detection or quantification method for a nucleic acid. For example, the amplicon can be detected by performing electrophoresis such as agarose gel electrophoresis or capillary electrophoresis and then staining the gel with ethidiumbromide or SYBRGreen I. Moreover, the amount of amplicon can be determined by fluorescence intensity, and the molecular weight thereof can be determined by comparison with a molecular weight marker. When electrophoresis is performed using an agarose gel in which a fluorescent dye is previously added, the amplicon can be detected without a staining process after the completion of electrophoresis. Furthermore, the presence or absence of the amplicon, or the amount of amplicon can also be confirmed by performing cycle sequencing of a PCR product and then determining the nucleotide sequence and length thereof using a DNA sequencer. In addition, according to a real time-PCR method, amplification can be detected continuously.

The PCR primers of the present invention may comprise a kit for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis alone or in combination with other components. Examples of the aforementioned other components include any one or more reagents necessary for extraction of nucleic acids, PCR, and detection of amplicons. The aforementioned kit may also include: as a positive control, a DNA fragment which has a part of a sequence of 16S rRNA gene of Bifidobacterium infantis and can be amplified by the PCR primer of the present invention; and/or, as a negative control, a DNA fragment which has a nucleotide sequence corresponding to that of the PCR primer of the present invention including mismatch of one or a few nucleotides.

As described above, the PCR primers of the present invention can be used for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis. Moreover, in the case of industrial production of bacterial cells of Bifidobacterium infantis, the measurement of viable count or monitoring of fermentation conditions can be easily performed by using the PCR primers of the present invention.

EXAMPLES

Hereinafter, the present invention will be illustrated in more detail by referring to examples, although the present invention is not limited to these examples.

<1>Synthesis of Primer

Oligonucleotides each having a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 to 35 (referred to as Primers 2 to 35) were synthesized by means of a phosphoramidite method using a 3400 DNA synthesizer (manufactured by Applied Biosystems).

Primers 2, 5 to 28, 32, and 33 (SEQ ID NOS: 2, 5 to 28, 32, and 33) are the primers of the present invention (FIG. 1). Conveniently, Primers 5 to 28 are referred to as forward primers and Primers 2, 32, and 33 are referred as to reverse primers.

Primer 3 (SEQ ID NO: 3) is a PCR primer, produced by substituting a DNA sequence for an RNA probe for detecting 16S rRNA of Bifidobacterium infantis disclosed in JP 06-197763 A.

Primer 34 (SEQ ID NO: 34) and Primer 35 (SEQ ID NO: 35) are primers for specifically detecting Bifidobacterium infantis and disclosed in JP 11-123093 A as BiLONg and BiINF.

<2>Preparation of a Chromosomal DNA of Test Bacteria

Colonies of Lactobacillus bifidus were grown on a GAM agar medium (prepared by adding 3% (W/W) glucose in the commercial product (Nissui pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)). Then, the colonies were collected using an inoculating needle, and they were suspended in a tube containing 1.0 ml of sterile water. The tube was centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 1 minute, and the supernatant was removed. Two hundred micro liter of InstaGene Matrix™ (Japan Bio-Rad) was added to the resultant precipitate containing bacterial cells, and the mixture was incubated at 56° C. for 15 to 30 minutes. The resultant mixture was mixed with a Vortex Mixer for 10 seconds, and then incubated in boiling water for 8 minutes. The mixture was mixed with the Vortex Mixer for 10 seconds again, and centrifuged at 10,000 to 12,000 rpm for 2 minutes, thereby the supernatant was obtained. The DNA concentration was determined by measuring the absorbance of the supernatant liquid at a wavelength of 260 nm using a spectrophotometer. Subsequently, the supernatant was diluted with sterile water and thereby a 10 ng/μl of DNA solution was prepared.

The aforementioned bifidobacteria are as follows.

Bifidobacterium infantis (B. infantis) ATCC15697 strain

Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) ATCC15700 strain

Bifidobacterium bifidum (B. bifidum) JCM1255 strain

Bifidobacterium longum (B. longum) JCM1217 strain

Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum (B. pseudocatenulatum) JCM1200 strain

Bifidobacterium adolescentis (B. adolescentis) JCM1275 strain

Bifidobacterium dentium (B. dentium) JCM1195 strain

Bifidobacterium gallicum (B. gallicum) JCM8224 strain

Bifidobacterium angulatum (B. angulatum) JCM7096 strain

Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) JCM7020 strain

Example 1

(1) PCR

The PCR reaction solution having the compositions described below was prepared, and PCR was performed under the following conditions using a PCR Thermal Cycler MR (Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). Incubating the solution at 94° C. for 10 minutes; repeating a reaction cycle consisting of denaturation (94° C., 30 seconds), annealing (65° C., 30 seconds), and extension (72° C., 30 seconds) for 30 cycles; and lastly, incubating it at 72° C. for 10 minutes. In Comparative Examples 1 and 2, annealing was performed at 55° C. for 30 seconds.

(PCR Reaction Solution Composition) Forward primer solution (10 μM) 5 μl Reverse primer solution (10 μM) 5 μl Sterile water 53.5 μl GeneAmp 10 × PCR Buffer II (Applied Biosystems) 10 μl 25 mM MgSO₄ 6 μl AmpliTaq Gold DNA polymerase (2.5 Unit) 0.5 μl (Applied Biosystems) GeneAmp dNTP MIX (2 mM of each of dATP, dTTP, 10 μl dGTP, and dCTP) (Applied Biosystems) DNA solution 10 μl

The combinations of forward primer and reverse primer are shown below.

[Table 1] TABLE 1 Forward primer Reverse primer Example 1 Primer 5 Primer 33 Comparative Example 1 Primer 34 Primer 35 Comparative Example 2 Primer 3 Primer 33 (2) Detection of PCR Product

4 μl of a dye solution was added to 1 μl of a PCR solution, and electrophoresis was performed on 2% (w/w) of NuSieve 3:1 agarose (Cambrex Corporation) gel that had been prepared using 0.5×TBE buffer. The gel was stained with a SYBRGreenI (Cambrex Corporation) staining solution diluted to 20,000-fold using 0.5×TBE buffer. Subsequently, the fluorescence was observed at a wavelength of 300 nm using a densitometer AE-6920V-FX (ATTO Corporation). The amplicons were detected using a DNA marker. The results are shown in Table 2 and Table 3. In the tables, the symbol “+” represents that an amplicon was detected, and the symbol “−” represents that an amplicon was not detected.

[Table 2] TABLE 2 presence or absence of an amplicon Comparative Example 1 Example 1 B. infantis ATCC15697 + + B. breve ATCC15700 − − B. longum JCM1217 − − B. bifidum JCM1255 − − B. pseudocatenulatum JCM1200 − − B. adolescentis JCM1275 − − B. dentium JCM1195 − − B. gallicum JCM8224 − − B. angulatum JCM7096 − − B. breve JCM7020 − +

[Table 3] TABLE 3 Comparative Example 2 Presence or absence Strain Name of an amplicon B. infantis ATCC15697 + B. breve ATCC15700 − B. longum JCM1217 − B. bifidum JCM1255 − B. pseudocatenulatum JCM1200 − B. adolescentis JCM1275 − B. dentium JCM1195 − B. gallicum JCM8224 − B. angulatum JCM7096 − B. breve JCM7020 +

As shown in Table 2 and Table 3, the amplicons of both strains (Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 strain and Bifidobacterium breve JCM 7020 strain) were obtained in Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, so that Bifidobacterium infantis was not detected specifically. On the other hand, only amplicons of Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 strain having a length of 579 bp was obtained in Example 1.

Example 2

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 1, using Primers 4 to 31 as forward primers and Primer 33 as a reverse primer, and reaction products were detected. The results are shown in Table 4. The blank columns show that the experiment was not performed. TABLE 4 Presence or absence of an amplicon Forward primer 4 5-28 29 30 31 B. infantis ATCC15697 + + + + + B. breve ATCC15700 − − − − + B. longum JCM1217 − − − − − B. bifidum JCM1255 − − − − − B. pseudocatenulatum JCM1200 + − − − − B. adolescentis JCM1275 − − − − − B. dentium JCM1195 − − − − − B. gallicum JCM8224 − − − − − B. angulatum JCM7096 − − − + +

Example 3

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 2, and reaction products were detected. The annealing temperature in the reaction was 60° C.

[Table 5] TABLE 5 Presence or absence of an amplicon Forward primer 5-28 29 30 31 B. infantis ATCC15697 + + + + B. breve ATCC15700 − − + + B. longum JCM1217 − − − − B. bifidum JCM1255 − − − − B. pseudocatenulatum JCM1200 − − − − B. adolescentis JCM1275 − − + + B. dentium JCM1195 − − − − B. gallicum JCM8224 − − + + B. angulatum JCM7096 − + + +

Example 4

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 1, using Primers 5, 16, and 28 as forward primers and Primer 32 as a reverse primer, and reaction products were detected. The annealing temperature in the reaction was 60° C. As a result, amplicons of Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 were obtained.

Example 5

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 1 using Primers 5, 16, and 28 as forward primers and Primer 33 as a reverse primer, and reaction products were detected. The annealing temperature in the reaction was 60° C. or 65° C. As a result, at both temperatures, amplicons of Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 were obtained.

Example 6

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 1 using Primers 5, 16, and 28 as forward primers and Primer 2 as a reverse primer, and reaction products were detected. The annealing temperature in the reaction was 60° C. As a result, amplicons of Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 were obtained.

Example 7

PCR were performed in a manner similar to that in Example 1 using Primers 5 and 16 as forward primers and Primer 2 as a reverse primer, and reaction products were detected. The annealing temperature in the reaction was 65° C. As a result, amplicons of Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697 were obtained.

As described above, the primer of the present invention can detect Bifidobacterium infantis with extremely high specificity.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, Bifidobacterium infantis can be detected simply, rapidly, and without showing a cross-reaction with other species of bifidobacteria. 

1. PCR primers for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis comprising: a pair of a first oligonucleotide having a sequence of 20 or more continuous nucleotides selected from a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and a second oligonucleotide having a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in which 0 to 7 nucleotides has been deleted from its 5′-terminal side.
 2. The PCR primers according to claim 1, wherein the first oligonucleotide has a nucleotide sequence selected from SEQ ID NOS: to 28 and the second oligonucleotide has a nucleotide sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 2, 32, or
 33. 3. A kit for detecting Bifidobacterium infantis comprising the PCR primers according to claim 1 or
 2. 4. A method of detecting Bifidobacterium infantis, comprising: performing PCR using the PCR primers according to claim 1 or 2 and a chromosomal DNA or 16S rRNA of test bacteria as a template; and determining whether an amplicon is present or not. 